Chief, aka Kevin. PCT 4 me 2013: 07/18/13

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Copco Fever (all about ME!!!!)

Chief is somewhere between mile 1506 - 1606 (mile 1562 8/17 at 7pm)

Left him at trailhead early morning of July 16 (outside of Castle Crags State Park), walking to Etna (pick up point is at mile 1606)

After dropping him off, I had my first big driving adventure since I had left almost 2 1/2 weeks ago. The I-5! Wow. I have only been on backroads and old mtn roads. Never really traffic or getting that speedometer above 50! Holy crap. Lots of trucks and cars and gotta get used to this again. :(
Before heading to Etna to find a campground for the next 4 days of waiting for Chief, I decided to take Loy and John's (SB friends) offer to join them at their "Lake House." NICE. What a great decision I made. Copco Lake is a somewhere out there off of the I-5 going East from Montague. "Where is Montague, you may ask?" East of Yreka. But way east of Montague. There you find Copco Lake. What a special little place. Vacation homes and a few full time residents live around this beautiful lake. Actually, it appears it is their PRIVATE lake. When Loy and I kayaked for over 2 hours, we never saw one other person on the lake. Pristine. There is a little Copco Town at the end of the lake where the Klamath river access comes down. The real bonus was the Wild Mustangs inhabiting the "other side" of the lake. What a great adventure we had. John and Loy were the perfect hosts. I can never, ever, Thank you enough..You are MY TRAIL ANGELS. And to even make it more special, Shane proposed to Lindsay when I was there. Fantastic news. So happy for them.

Driving out of Copco Lake, very slowly, I see a lady hiking. She come's over to the truck as asked me if I was "Chief's Wife!!" Ok this is just a little wierd, I think? Not really, it was quite wonderful. Got to meet Judy, who lives at Copco and has been following Chief's blog and map since the beginning. She and her husband hike sections of the PCT and were so excited to have Loy forward them the blog. She was so thrilled to be able to follow him. Perhaps she can join Loy and John when they attempt to pick up Chief at the junction to get down to Ashland.

Kevin does not know about Shane and Lindsay, but will be so excited to hear the BIG news when he arrives in Etna. Looking forward to a nice zero day with him and hanging out at the Bluegrass Festival and the Brewery! My last big attempt to put some added weight on him before heading home on Sunday.

My thoughts are to our dear friend, Wendy, who passed through this life today....on her husbands birthday. A day to celebrate 2 special lives. We will all miss her tremendously and will never, ever forget her strong will to live. Don't worry Wendy, we will watch over Claire. We love you.

The Lake House

Their own private Lake

Kiley and Bodie

Canadian Geese

This is complete decadance. Don't even have to get out of the kayak

so many, a bit too high

Loy on the mirror lake

Big Bucks

Wild Mustangs

A Shasta Lily and Hundreds of Blackberries! Nature's Trail Magic.

Near McCloud Resevoir - Castle Crags State Park
mile 1476-1506

After staying at a wonderful campground a few miles towards McCloud Lake, I am now at Castle Crags State Park (July 15). I've read about this park in Sunset magazine and have always wanted to stay. It's quite beautiful. Outside of McCloud, the owners of the small park we stayed out were the most gracious couple. They drove Chief and I around their inherited 450 acre ranch, which they have turned into a Fly Fishing RV/campground. It has 3 ponds which are stocked for fishermen and only 29 campsites spread out among the beautiful valley with Mt. Shasta looming over you. Mr. Friday (Bob) was intent that I see a Shasta Lily, as they only bloom during a small window of perhaps 7-10 days and we were right in that time period. Bob and MayLawn drove us all around in their little electric cart to find the lily. Chief had been talking about this flower for a day or two, as the aroma is undescribable and you can smell it above anything else when walking through the forest. Sure enough, we found a small patch of 5 - 6 lily's. They were quite aromatic.
Such nice people. I hope we can go back to this little gem of a place, in the middle of nowhere.

Leaving Chief at trailhead early this morning, I set off for my short drive to Castle Crags State Park, where the PCT meanders through. Stopped in Dunsmuir early at the coffee shop to have breakfast. Apparently, just missed Roger Dodger who was also in Dunsmuir. Would have really liked to see him again. Drove a bit south, as the trail now does some wierd south-west bendy crap. It's the big bend WEST, towards Etna. Got to Castella (store and Post office...that's it!) and picked up Chief's box. Had some new shoes sent here by REI (shoe number 4). The store is the hangout as it is also the resupply and Trail Angel for the area. Nice couple who run this little store, The Ameritas Market. They have the biggest selection of IPA's I have evers seen! Even their own brand!

Will leave here tomorrow and head north towards Etna (him walking the 100 miles and me driving, far less!) Very excited to be back in that neck of the woods. There is also the plus that there is a Blue Grass Festival this weekend in Etna! Chief is going to take a zero day and we will definitely enjoy our last couple of days together, listening to music, eating and drinking.